AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Uniti Group Inc. $UNIT

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Uniti Group Inc. by 20.7%, owning approximately 1.13 million shares worth around $5.72 million.
• Analysts have provided mixed ratings for Uniti Group, with Wells Fargo raising the price target from $4.50 to $7.50, while Zacks cut it to a "strong sell."
• Uniti Group reported EPS of $0.36 in its latest earnings, missing the consensus estimate by $0.06, despite a 2% year-over-year revenue increase.

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT - Free Report) by 20.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,134,963 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 195,011 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.46% of Uniti Group worth $5,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNIT. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Uniti Group during the 1st quarter valued at $6,158,000. Sona Asset Management US LLC boosted its position in Uniti Group by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Sona Asset Management US LLC now owns 1,200,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,600,000 after buying an additional 600,000 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Uniti Group by 67.2% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,167,553 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,420,000 after buying an additional 469,078 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Uniti Group during the 4th quarter valued at $2,450,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Uniti Group by 65.4% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,005,669 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,069,000 after buying an additional 397,499 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on UNIT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Uniti Group from $4.50 to $7.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $5.30 target price on shares of Uniti Group in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Uniti Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Uniti Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.70.

Uniti Group Trading Down 2.4%

NASDAQ:UNIT opened at $6.94 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.10. Uniti Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $5.68 and a 12 month high of $12.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22 and a beta of 1.50.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.06). Uniti Group had a net margin of 2.96% and a negative return on equity of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $300.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $304.06 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Uniti Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Uniti Group Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Uniti Group Company Profile

Uniti Group, Inc is a real estate investment trust company, which engages in the acquisition, construction, and leasing of properties. It operates through the following business segments: Uniti Leasing, Uniti Fiber, and Corporate. The Uniti Leasing segment involves mission-critical communications assets on exclusive or shared-tenant basis, and dark fiber network.

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